The Australian Government is committed to improving road safety and is working with state and territory Governments to deliver safety treatments on road networks nationally, including through the Road Safety Program.
Funding supports the fast roll out of lifesaving road safety treatments on urban, rural and regional roads and greater protection for vulnerable road users, like cyclists and pedestrians, in urban areas. Funding under the program is offered to states and territories on a ‘use it or lose it’ basis. As a condition of funding, states and territories are required to provide road safety data, and report against road safety metrics.
State highways and arterial roads are being upgraded through the application of road safety treatments including shoulder sealing and the installation of rumble strips, to support the safe return of vehicles from the shoulder into the travel lane; physical barriers to prevent run off road crashes; and median treatments to prevent head-on vehicle collisions. Vulnerable road users, like cyclists and pedestrians, in urban areas will see greater protections through road safety upgrades to include traffic calming, separated cycle-ways, and the installation of raised pedestrian crossings.
The National Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030 (the Strategy) represents the commitment of all Australian governments to work together with our communities to change the road transport system to prevent deaths and serious injuries to meet our Vision Zero target by 2050. The Strategy identifies nine priority areas where we can achieve the greatest reductions in road trauma over the next ten years. These priority areas are: infrastructure planning and investment, improving regional and remote road safety, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander road safety, vehicle safety, heavy vehicle safety, safety for vulnerable road users, reducing risky road use, and workplace road safety. An Action Plan to support the Strategy is also under development.